Description
Te Tangi a Te Matui (The Call of the Matui ) (Flute and Alto Voice — One Performer)
Wings of the Wind (Solo Flute)
By Helen Fisher
The Call of the Matui, is for solo performer and is based on a Maori Karakia (incantation), which is first sung and then blended with the tangi (sound) of the flute. The ornate flute style, including quarter tones, is inspired by that of the small Maori flute: the Koauau. Wings of the Wind has its starting point, the dawn flight, during the winter months, of flocks of starlings from their nesting place on Tokomapuna, a small island off Kapiti Island, north of Wellington, New Zealand. These starlings fly across a large, windy expanse of sea to disperse to their feeding grounds on the mainland, and then return at dusk to Tokomapuna.